Popular Nasserist Organization

The Popular Nasserist Organization (PNO) is a Nasserist political party in Lebanon which was founded in 1973 by Maarouf Saad. It set up its National Liberation Army (NLA) armed wing in Sidon in March 1975 with help from the PLO, and it was initially financed by Yasser Arafat and Libya before the millionaire Rafic Hariri hired the PNO to protect his business interests in Sidon during the Lebanese Civil War of the 1980s. Its 1,000 uniformed male and female fighters, predominantly Sunni with some Shi'ites and Christians, fought alongside the Independent Nasserite Organization during the civil war, and they joined the Lebanese National Movement in 1975. In January 1976, the PNO, INO, PLO, and Palestine Liberation Army besieged the Christian coastal town of Damour and took part in the 1976 Spring Offensive on Mount Lebanon. In 1985, the PNO fought alongside the Palestinians against the South Lebanon Army at Kfar-Fallus and Jezzine. After the civil war's end, the PNO joined the pro-Syria March 8 Alliance and maintained a militia which participated in clashes with anti-Syria March 14 Alliance militias during the late 2000s and the 2010s.